PANews reported on May 5th that, according to Cryptopolitan, a Barcelona court is investigating six former Sevilla football club players for alleged involvement in a Shirtum cryptocurrency project fraud. Newly filed criminal charges allege the project sold fake NFTs and manipulated tokens to investors, causing losses exceeding €24 million (approximately $28 million).

The lawsuit names players including Papu Gómez, Lucas Ocampos, Ivan Rakitić, Nico Pareja, Alberto Moreno, and Javier Saviola. According to El Correo de Andalucía, Diego Perotti and Marcelo Guedes were also involved in promoting the project. Thirteen Spanish investors have filed a lawsuit in Barcelona's Fifth Investigative Court, claiming the complete loss of their funds.

Shirtum reportedly advertised itself as a digital football collectible trading platform, selling "cinematic NFTs" containing player photos and audio recordings for approximately €450 each. However, the complainant claims that these NFTs were never minted on any blockchain and cannot be transferred or resold. Furthermore, Shirtum's promoters previously received approximately €3 million in BNB from investors to develop iOS and Android mobile applications, but the applications were never launched, and the funds have not been refunded or their whereabouts explained.